Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

12-2014

Abstract

In fifteen years, South Korea went from providing only 12% of rural households with electricity to providing 98% of rural households with electricity for lighting and productive uses. This paper provides an analysis of rural electrification and development in South Korea from 1965 to 1979 and finds that rural electrification contributed to a significant increase in rural household income levels and improved the quality of life in villages substantially. At the same time, rural electrification did not benefit the poorest quartile of rural households, increased economic and social inequality, led to a significant increase in household debt, and accelerated migration to urban areas. Central to the South Korean electrification experience was a top-down and a bottom-up approach that balanced local control and participation with central government control. This approach was crucial in overcoming many of the issues that continue to be found today in both grid-based and off-grid approaches to electrification

Keywords

Rural electrification, Rural development, Rural policy, Electricity and development, South Korea

Discipline

Asian Studies | Urban Studies and Planning

Publication

Energy for Sustainable Development

Volume

23

First Page

179

Last Page

187

ISSN

0973-0826

Identifier

10.1016/j.esd.2014.09.004

Publisher

Elsevier

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2014.09.004

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